said. "And you'd
better start rehearsing for your own wedding before long. The _Genji_
will be ready to hyper out in another month, and I don't want to be at
space when my only daughter gets married."

They pushed through the crowd, dragging Conn's mother with them toward
the big living room beyond. On the way, Mrs. Maxwell stopped to try to
drag Judge Ledue out of a chair.

"Judge, the rehearsal is starting; they can't do it without you."

Ledue clung to his chair. "They daren't do it with me, Mrs. Maxwell.
If I get into it, it won't be a rehearsal; they'll be really married,
and then there won't be any point in having a wedding tomorrow."

"Oh, Morgan!" Conn called across the room to Gatworth. "You've just
been appointed temporary judge for the wedding rehearsal!"

There was a big crowd around Wade Lucas, in the next room; he was
telling them about the voyage to Baldur, from which he had returned,
and the one to Irminsul, with a cargo of arms, machine tools and
contragravity vehicles, on which he and his bride would go for their
honeymoon. There was another crowd around Flora; she was telling them
about the new fashions on Baldur, which had been brought back on the
_Ouroboros II_.

"Where's your father?" his mother was asking him. "He has to rehearse
giving the bride away."

"Probably in his office. I'll go get him."

"You'll get into an argument with somebody and forget to come back,"
his mother said. "Sylvie, you go with him, and bring both of them
back."

"When'll we have our wedding, Sylvie?" he asked as they went off
together.

"Well, before Dad goes to Aditya with the _Genji_. That'll have to be
in a month."

"Two weeks? That ought to be plenty of time to get ready, and let
people recover from this one."

"Everybody's here now. Let's make it a double wedding tomorrow," she
suggested.

He hadn't been prepared for that. "Well, I hadn't expected.... Sure!
Good idea!" he agreed.

There was a crowd in Rodney Maxwell's little office--Fawzi and some
others, and some Storisende people. One of the latter was
vociferating:

"Jake Vyckhoven's no good, and he never was any good!"

"Well, you have to admit, if he hadn't ordered the banks and the Stock
Exchange closed that time, we'd have had a horrible panic--"

"Admit nothing of the kind! Jethro, you were there, you'll bear me
out. About a dozen of us were at Executive Palace for hours, bullying
him into that. Why, we almost had to twist one of his